ASA: Graphic and PC Enhancements

Post of helpful Optimizations and Client side bug fixes for our ARK Players:

How to improve ARK Survival Ascended (ASA) performance

Many users struggle with ARK:SA's performance stutters, low FPS (frames per second), and graphical glitches. ASA is a STILL a highly unoptimized game, as even high-end hardware often isn’t able to achieve a smooth 60 FPS or even a stable 30 FPS. Unfortunately, there’s nothing you can do about it other than fine-tune the settings, which is what we’re here for!

The first thing to do is verify your graphics drivers is up-to-date. ARK: Survival Ascended is a demanding game, and if your drivers aren't updated, you'll encounter more issues. Here is where you can check for updates:

BEST AMD settings in ARK: Survival Ascended

For the best AMD settings in ARK: Survival Ascended, prioritize enabling AMD FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR), setting the in-game resolution slightly lower than your native monitor resolution, turning on AMD Anti-Lag, and adjusting other graphics settings to "Medium" or "High" depending on your hardware, with a focus on lowering settings that heavily impact performance like foliage interaction and advanced graphics, while maintaining important visual elements like global illumination at a higher setting if possible.

Key points to remember:

AMD FSR: Activate this feature in your AMD Radeon Software to upscale the game's resolution, potentially boosting FPS significantly.
Resolution Scaling: Set the in-game resolution slightly lower than your native monitor resolution to gain performance.
Anti-Lag: Enable AMD Anti-Lag in your Radeon settings for quicker response times.
Graphics Preset: Choose a "Medium" or "High" preset depending on your hardware.
Important Settings to Adjust:
- Foliage Interaction: Set to "Low" or "Off" to significantly improve performance.
- Advanced Graphics: Adjust based on your system, but consider lowering it to "Medium" for better FPS.
- View Distance: Set to a moderate level depending on your preference and hardware
- Global Illumination: Try to keep this setting at "Medium" or higher for better lighting effects.

Other considerations:

Check AMD Radeon Software: Always check the latest AMD Radeon Software settings for optimal game optimization.
Experiment with settings: Test different configurations to find the perfect balance between visual quality and performance for your system.
Monitor your GPU usage: Use the in-game FPS counter and GPU monitoring tools to see how your system is performing and identify potential bottlenecks.

BEST Nvidia settings in "ARK: Survival Ascended

For the best Nvidia settings in "ARK: Survival Ascended," prioritize enabling DLSS (Deep Learning Super Sampling) in "Performance" mode, turn on Nvidia Low Latency mode, and adjust in-game graphics settings to prioritize medium-range quality with lower foliage density, focusing on lowering view distance and effects quality to maximize FPS while maintaining visual fidelity; if you have a high-end PC, you can push settings higher, but always consider utilizing DLSS for the best performance boost.

Nvidia Control Panel:

Manage 3D Settings:
- Program Settings: Select "ARK: Survival Ascended"
- DLSS: Enable, set to "Auto" mode
- Low Latency Mode: Enable
- Power Management: Set to "Prefer maximum performance"

ARK In-game graphics settings to tweak:

Open the Options Screen from your ASA Lobby Screen. After altering all of these settings, remember to save them.

For a stable experience with an Nvidia 4000 - 5000 series card, in ARK: Survival Ascended, aim for a balance of visual quality and performance by setting your graphics preset to "Medium," keeping DLSS on "Balanced," and lowering less impactful settings like view distance and effects to low, while high settings for Global Illumination and Textures maintain visual fidelity. Disable motion blur, light bloom, and light shafts, and turn off volumetric clouds and fog via console commands for a significant FPS boost. In-Game Settings

Graphics Preset: Start with the "Medium" preset as a baseline.
NVIDIA DLSS: Set this to "Balanced" for good visual quality and a performance boost.
Resolution Scale: Keep this at 100% or slightly lower if needed for performance.
View Distance: Set to "Low" or "Medium" to improve performance, as higher settings are demanding.
Texture Quality: "High" is a good starting point, but adjust to your preference; "Epic" can be used without significant visual impact if you have available VRAM.
Post-Processing: Set this to "Medium".
General Shadows: "High" is recommended for good quality.
Global Illumination Quality: "Epic" or "High" if you want the best look, but "Medium" is a good balance for performance.
Effects Quality: "Medium" is a good starting point.
Foliage Quality: "Medium" or "High" is a good balance; "Epic" creates tall grass.
Motion Blur: Turn this "Off".
Light Bloom & Light Shafts: Turn these "Off" to reduce graphical artifacts.
Low Light Enhancement: Turn this "Off".
Foliage & Fluid Interaction: Disable both settings and set their associated sliders all the way to the left.
Footstep Particles & Decals: Turn these "Off" to save performance.
Frame Rate Limit: Set this to your monitor's refresh rate (e.g., 60, 144).

Console Commands (Enter in game console)

Volumetric Clouds: Type VolumetricCloud 0 to disable clouds and significantly boost your FPS.
Dynamic Global Illumination: If you experience overly bright highlights, type r.DynamicGlobalIlluminationMethod 2 to get a less intense effect.

Important considerations:

Resolution Scale: If needed for extra performance, lower the resolution scale slightly.
Anti-Aliasing: Adjust based on preference, but lower settings can improve performance
Texture Quality: Depending on your VRAM, you might need to adjust texture quality

Other settings for improved PC performance in ARK Survival Ascended.

Set your Launch options!

You can squeeze more performance or fidelity out of ASA by using some command options. Add them to the game using the various game launchers and platforms:

On Steam, go to your library, right-click on ARK: SA and, select Properties and click on Set Launch Options.

Here’s a list of the best ones you can and should use: -high -lowmemory -sm4 -d3d11 -nomansky -window (-w 1860 -h 980 set this to your prefered window size)

On Epic, click the little Settings cog under ARK:SA to open the settings. Scroll all the way down until you see Advanced Command Line Arguments.

Console Commands

Use these commands either in your Console Command Bar (Make a Cut and paste of the whole set)!

r.ContactShadows 0 (Disables Small Shadows) (Low FPS Impact) r.DynamicGlobalIlluminationMethod 0 (Disables Lumen) (High FPS Impact) r.Lumen.Reflections.Allow 0 (Disables Lumen Reflections) (Medium FPS Impact) r.MaterialQualityLevel 0 (Disables Textures) (High FPS Impact) r.Nanite.MaxPixelsPerEdge 4 (Reduces Triangles For Nanite Meshes) (Medium FPS Impact) r.Shadow.CSM.MaxCascades 0 (Disables Shadow Cascades) (Medium FPS Impact) r.ShadowQuality 0 (Disables All Shadows) (High FPS Impact) r.VolumetricCloud 0 (Disables Clouds) (High FPS Impact) r.Water.SingleLayer.Reflection 0 (Disables Water Reflections) (Low FPS Impact) r.volumetricfog 0 (Disables Fog) (Low FPS Impact) ark.VertexCountScaling 1 (helps with the inventory bug) Grass.sizescale 0 (Reduces the scale of the giant grass) fx.MaxNiagaraGPUParticlesSpawnPerFrame 0 (Aberration; fixes the Glow Particles)

Optimized Command Presets:

Use the presets below to help with fps/ graphics/stutters. Go to single player or multiplayer and press the " ~ " key to open the console. Copy and Paste the commands from below as one message to the console and apply (enter)

Ultra (5% - 15% FPS Gain) r.Lumen.Reflections.Allow 0 | r.Shadow.CSM.MaxCascades 0 | r.VolumetricCloud 0|ark.VertexCountScaling 1

High (15% - 25% FPS Gain) r.DynamicGlobalIlluminationMethod 0 | r.Shadow.CSM.MaxCascades 0 | r.VolumetricCloud 0|ark.VertexCountScaling 1

Make sure you have Battleye installed if you are going to play a Multiplayer game!

If you are seeing one of the following problems, it might be due to the BattlEye service:

Game hangs at launch or fails to load
BattlEye failed to initialize
Kicked from the game
Stuttering/freezing when launching

You can troubleshoot those errors using the BattlEye FAQ here: http://www.battleye.com/support/faq/

Additionally, you can try deleting the BattlEye folder by following the following:

Please close the game all the way out.
Then, go to C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\H1Z1 and delete the BattlEye folder.
Then, verify the integrity of the game cache through Steam.

If none of these fixes work for you, please visit H1Z1 website and the following troubleshooting guide. https://help.daybreakgames.com/hc/en-us/articles/218088717

ASA GLITCHES and WORKAROUNDS

How to Install or Uninstall a map in ASA.,

Step 1. Open your steam page and right click on Ark Survival Ascended.
Step 2. Click on the menu selection "DLC".
Step 3. Chose the map you wish to install or uninstall from this list. (Check or uncheck the box)
Step 4. (INSTALLING) Close your Steam App and reopen it and wait for the map to download, unpack and finish. Then proceed to Join the server.
Step 4 (UNINSTALLING) Wait for the Steam app to finish uninstalling the DLC. Then Join the server you wish to play on.

How to Fix the DXGI_ERROR_DEVICE_HUNG Error

After researching this topic we found some workaround that works for some users. Apply the following methods to fix the DXGI_ERROR_DEVICE_HUNG error.

Method 1: Update your Graphic Drivers

Graphic Drivers

You can start troubleshooting the DXGI_ERROR_DEVICE_HUNG error by updating your graphic drivers. Below we have mentioned steps for Nvidia and AMD drivers:

For Nvidia: Visit https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/software/nvidia-app/ > Download Now > open the app > sign up or log in > Drivers > Download.

For AMD: Visit https://www.amd.com/en/support/download/drivers.html > Download > open the app > follow the on-screen instructions to update your graphics card.

Method 2: Verify the Integrity Of the Game File

Verify the Integrity

If updating the drivers does not fix your problem then you should verify the ARK Survival Ascended game files. If you don’t know how to do it then don’t worry you can do it by using the steps mentioned below.

Open Steam Client and log in with your account.
Click on Library and find the ARK Survival Ascended game.
Right-click on the game profile and select Properties.
Go to the Installed Files tab.
Click on the “Verify integrity of game files” option.
Wait

Method 3: Add Launch Parameter

Launch Parameters for Digi_Device_Hung

Go to your Steam Select Library and right-click “ARK Survival Ascended”.
From the drop-down menu, select “Properties”.
Now go to “General”.
Under “Launch Options”.
Paste -USEALLAVAILABLECORES -norhithread -sm4 -d3d10 -nomansky -lowmemory -novsync -high
Now close the Steam window, and restart your device.

If you're getting more crashes with the latest update, Remove -useallavailablecores ,try ONLY using -norhithread in the properties.

Method 4: Set Nvidia PhysX to Your Graphics Card

Nvidia PhysX

Some players have mentioned that they can fix this error by setting the Nvidia PhysX to their graphics card. Here is how you can do that:

Click on Windows Search Bar and search for “Nvidia Control Panel”.
On the control panel select “Configure Surround, PhysX”.
Under “Processor”, select your graphics card.
Close the Control Panel, that's it.

Method 5: Turn off Nvidia DLSS and Frame Generation

Nvidia DLSS and Frame Generation

At last, you can try turning off Nvidia DLLS and Frame Generation. Here is how you can do that:

Launch the ARK Survival Ascended game.
Go to Settings > General > RTX.
Here turn off “Nvidia DLSS” and “Frame Generation”.
Now, save the change and restart the game to check if your problem is fixed or not.

Method 6: Registry Edit

Registry Edit

Open the Windows Menu.
Type run into the search bar.
- Navigate to the Graphic Drivers section of the navigation on the left side of the Registry Edit tool.
- (The location for this is Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\GraphicsDrivers

The registry key you need is called TdrDelay
- If this registry key already exists, double-click to edit it.
- If it does not already exist, right-click in the pane on the right and select New > DWORD (32-bit) Value.
- Set the Base to Decimal.
- Set the Value of TdrDelay to 60.
- Click OK to finish.
You need a second registry key called TdrDdiDelay
- If this registry already exists, double-click to edit it.
- If it does not already exist, right-click in the right hand pane and select New > DWORD (32-bit) Value to create it.
- Set the Base to Decimal.
- Set the Value of TdrDdiDelay to 60.
- Click OK to finish.

Your registry should now include both TdrDelay and TdrDdiDelay.
Close the Registry Editor.
Restart your computer for these changes to take effect.

By adding these registry keys, Windows will now wait for 60 seconds prior to determining that the application has taken too long for its process.

Although this is a good way to curb GPU crashes based on rendering, this will not resolve all crashes. If you try to process too much data at once, the GPU may time out regardless of how long you set the timeout delay. This solution is only designed to give your graphics card a little extra time.

Failure to Load Content or the Boolean Overload

Failure to Load Content

Is caused by slow connection, or too many mods downloading.

If you are a high level character, use a mindwipe before transfer. This reduces the engrams to relearn on the new map.

If mods do not complete in the 120 second time frame for connection. You can change that in settings>advanced but longest time is 3 mins.

Too Many Mods subscribed. When your client must check and update more than 10-15 mods it slows your connection times down. Which often exceeds the 120 sec. Limit. (See section above)

Recent changes in Custom Cosmetics This change creates a bulk of info in your client, which slows connection times. ASA automaticly subs you to any cosmetics you see in game. But you do not see them in the download panel. To find them, go to game open Mods panel, > my mods (top of page) and scroll though mods there. Any you see without the blue banner are dynamic downloads. You have to fully install it then uninstall it to get rid of it. Or just delete your mods file monthly and re-download your chosen mods. Instructions below 👇

Boolean Overload

The crash is related to the game processing Boolean variables which are not synching properly. Most often this is caused by added cosmetic mods to the client (your pc not the server). Also, check at the bottom of the inventory screen, there's a small menu, choose " all items " This may be the culprit in many complaints.

Work Arounds

In pregame Settings under UI Disable Menu Transitions. (restart game after)
In pregame Settings. Disable Give Default Survivor Items
Ingame, only access inventory when in 3rd person.
Ingame, place two or more beds in your base and name them. Now Fasttravel from bed #1 to bed #2. Run back over and look for your bag by the first bed, and recover those things you definitely want! Leave the skins and such to decay.
Harvest a handful of berries and log out of game & steam When you log back in, you have berries and all missing things
Suicide, chop up your body and get the bag, all items will be in it.
Transfer your whole inventory (including your cosmetics panel items) into a box. Log out of game and restart ARK. Log back in, you have all the missing things.
Empty all items out of your cosmetics panel.
It has to be done with the cursor and "t" key. No transfer all button. Things that can be dyed or have skins will show up in the left panel. Dyes and skins show up in the right panel. Dye has weight . As does the tools and gear. Skins take up slots. Which can slot cap you.

Nanite setting that helps with the Glitch Launch Param - -ark.VertexCountScaling 1Command Prompt - ark.VertexCountScaling 1Go to single player or multiplayer and press the " ~ " key to open the console. Copy and Paste the command as one message to the console and apply (enter) With in your gameusersetting.ini - ark.VertexCountScaling=1 File to put them in: ....\shootergame\saved\config\windows\enigine.ini use header [ConsoleVariables] at the bottom of the engine.ini and then single line put your commands.

Delete your mod Folder.

Close ARK and Steam. Follow : ...\...\steamapps\common\ARK Survival Ascended\ShooterGame\Binaries\Win64\ShooterGame\Mods Delete the MODS folder. Then empty your trash. Restart Steam and then ARK. Log into a server and wait for all the current mods to down load. Do not add any other mods or custom cosmetics for now. Do this after you have confirmed you can enter the server first and that you are able to see your inventory.

Go to the cosmetic panel and empty all your cosmetics and Chibis in the first right side panel into a vault. And then relog in. (The second right side panel is your subscribed cosmetics.) I would suggest you reduce your cosmetic subscriptions to three mod packs or less. And then reverify your game.

Type Reconnect in the tilde key bar.
When you log in and have 2 implants and are black weighed, Commit Suicide, respawning your character often fixes this. (To Suicide - hover over your implant till the counter turns green, then hit your E Key.)
When you log in and you are tribeless and no base, LOG OUT IMMEDIATELY! Restart your Steam application, and then relog in.
When you log in and you are unable to interact with your base. LOG OUT IMMEDIATELY! Restart your Steam application, and then relog in.
If you crash with a Boolean error, LOG OUT IMMEDIATELY! Restart your Steam application, and then relog in.

"Connection Timeout" error in ARK: Survival Ascended

`Game-Specific Issues:`

Check for game updates: Make sure your ARK: Survival Ascended game and any mods you're using are up to date.
Check for mods: If you're using mods, ensure they are fully loaded before trying to download/load into a map. (Updating and Patching Mods will Show in the Top Right corner of the Lobby Window in ( ) )
Restart your game: Sometimes a simple restart can resolve minor glitches.
Clear the game cache: Some players have reported success by clearing the game's cache.
Try joining a different server: If possible, try joining a different official or unofficial server to see if the issue is server-specific.
Full player inventory or too many dinos: A full inventory or excessive number of dinosaurs on your server can sometimes cause timeout errors.
Verify game files: Use the game's verification tool to ensure your game files haven't become corrupted.
Reinstall the game: A fresh installation can sometimes fix corrupted files.

`Low-Spec Machine Issues:`

Lower your graphics settings: Reduce the visual complexity of the game to see if it helps. Turn all settings to the lowest to test your graphics.
Hardware limitations: If your computer is struggling to run the game at the chosen graphics settings, it can lead to connection issues. Consider following the below guide for rolling back your Nvidia Driver.

ASA graphics issues.

One of three Nvidia Drivers have proven the best for ARK Ascended as of September 2025. After the 5.5 Update, and the recent One time reset of Graphic values (Patch. V72. 7)

The Nvidia GeForce Game Ready Driver version 561.09, released on Sept. 11, 2024, The Nvidia GeForce Game Ready Driver version 566.36, released on December 5, 2024, or The Nvidia GeForce Game Ready Driver version 576.52, released on May 19, 2025

User experiences: Newer drivers may have issues: Newer driver versions (like the 572.xx series) have been reported to cause problems for some users with 30 and 40 series cards in ASA. Some users have reported that driver 566.36 is a relatively stable driver version, particularly for users with RTX 30 and 40 series GPUs, who have experienced crashes and stutters with newer drivers.

Driver compatibility varies:

The performance of a driver can differ significantly based on individual system configurations. If you're experiencing issues with ASA, it's recommended to:
Try different driver versions (like 566.36 or older ones).
Perform a clean installation of the driver using DDU (Display Driver Uninstaller).
Consider disabling Frame Generation on RTX 40 series cards, as there are known issues.
Submit feedback to Nvidia if you encounter driver-related problems.

To uninstall NVIDIA drivers You can either use the NVIDIA Cleanup Tool or the standard Windows uninstall process. Using Windows Uninstall Process

Open Control Panel.
Navigate to "Programs and Features" (or "Uninstall a program"). Find the NVIDIA display drivers and select them.
Click "Uninstall" or "Remove".
Follow the prompts to complete the uninstallation.

To install or update NVIDIA drivers

Download the Driver:
https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/geforce/drivers/
Install the Driver: Using the Installer: Double-click the downloaded driver file to start the installation process. Follow the on-screen instructions in the installation wizard.

Disabling Frame Generation and other Unneeded ASA PRE-Set settings on RTX 40 series cards

Below is the graphics Settings in your NVIDIA GeForce APP.

ASA - How to Uninstall Your Mods on the PC.,

Uninstall the mod, delete the file in the mod folder, then restart the game, and then download the mod again.

Unsubscribe from Mods in the Game Client: Open ASA and navigate to the Mod Selection page for ARK: Ascended. Go to "Installed mods" in the top bar. Then Click the "Unsubscribe from All" in the far right hand top corner.

Remove the files:

Find the ARK: Ascended game directory (usually in Steam\steamapps\common\ARK Survival Ascended).,
Navigate to the "ShooterGame" folder.,
Open "ShooterGame\Binaries\Win64\ShooterGame\Mods\{Number}".,
Delete the mod folder(s) associated with the mods you unsubscribed from.,

Reinstalling mods. Each server will present you a pane with the mods to download when you log in.

Join the server and let it download mods from the server listing.,
You will get a failed to join message. Don't close this.,
There will be a mod counter in the top right saying x/0 mods updated. Wait until x=the number of mods actually on the server,
Close the error and back out to main menu. BUT Don't close the application.
Go to the Lobby and choose your map and rejoin as usual.

Console Mod Loading,

Work around For console players:

Remove the files:

Find the ARK: Ascended game directory (usually in Steam\steamapps\common\ARK Survival Ascended).,
Navigate to the "ShooterGame" folder.,
Open "ShooterGame\Binaries\Win64\ShooterGame\Mods\{Number}".,
Delete the mod folder(s) associated with the mods you unsubscribed from.,

Reinstalling mods.

Each server will present you a pane with the mods to download when you log in.

Join the server and let it download mods from the server listing.,
You will get a failed to join message. Don't close this.,
There will be a mod counter in the top right saying x/0 mods updated. Wait until x=the number of mods actually on the server,
Close the error and back out to main menu. BUT Don't close the application,
Attempt to join the server again. It will download the mods again but faster,

Cross your fingers you don't black screen. If you crash or black screen, restart app and start at step 3 again.

Character Loss and Deletion.

The majority of the character deletion is caused by the player client crashing and reloading an outdated server player save.

We often tell the players to Go back to map 1 and they should find their character. Not always now in ASA.

Preventative tips:

Make sure you stay on the map for at least 15 minutes before logging on/off.
Doing "something to progress" can be as small as picking up berries from a bush to beating a boss.
Do Not Alt+tab during transfers or you will crash and potentially lose your .savefile
If you are crashing a lot, it might be smart to lower your settings to help prevent character loss.
Make sure you stay on the map for at least 15 minutes before logging on/off.
Doing "something to progress" can be as small as picking up berries from a bush to beating a boss.
Do Not Alt+tab during transfers or you will crash and potentially lose your .savefile
Verify after EVERY crash.
If you are crashing a lot, it might be smart to lower your settings to help prevent character loss.

The .savefile that is used in Data transfers is inaccessible to server owners. So we can not parse the data in the Server saves and find the specific player transfer .savefile.

PreviousASE: Graphic and PC Enhancements NextCONAN Graphic and PC Enhancements

Last updated 1 month ago

Was this helpful?